shotgun

English

Alternative forms

• shot-gun

Etymology

From shot +‎ gun. Front passenger seat sense comes from ride shotgun.

Noun

shotgun (countable and uncountable; plural shotguns)

1. A gun which fires loads consisting of small metal balls, called shot, from a cartridge.
2. (slang) The front passenger seat in a vehicle, next to the driver; so called because the position of the shotgun-armed guard on a horse-drawn stage-coach, wagon train, or gold transport was next to the driver on a forward-mounted bench seat.

   I call shotgun! (I claim the right to sit in the passenger seat.)

3. (US) A one-story dwelling with no hallways or corridors, with the rooms arranged in a straight line. Mostly heard in the southern United States.

   Elvis Presley was born in a two-bedroom shotgun in Tupelo, Mississippi.

4. (American football) A play formation in which the quarterback is a few feet behind the snapper when the ball is hiked, ideally allowing for an easier pass play.

Derived terms

• double-barrelled shotgun
• ride shotgun
• sawn-off shotgun / sawed-off shotgun
• shotgun sequencing
• shotgun shack
• shotgun wedding
• shotty

Translations

A gun

Bulgarian: (ловджийска) пушка f. Catalan: escopeta (ca) f. Chamicuro: shipotos̈hka's̈ho'lochi Croatian: sačmarica (hr) f. Danish: haglbøsse (da) c. Dutch: hagelgeweer (nl) n., jachtgeweer (nl) n. Finnish: haulikko (fi) French: please add this translation if you can Galician: please add this translation if you can German: Flinte (de) f. Icelandic: haglabyssa (is) f. Indonesian: senapan angin (id) Irish: gunna gráin (ga) m.

Japanese: 散弾銃 (さんだんじゅう, sandanjū) Korean: 산탄총 (santanchong) Macedonian: сачмарка (mk) (sáčmarka) f. Mandarin: 散弹枪 (cmn) (sǎndànqiāng), 霰弹枪 (cmn) Norwegian: hagle (no) c. Polish: strzelba (pl) f. Portuguese: espingarda (pt) f., caçadeira (pt) f., escopeta (pt) f. Russian: дробовик (ru) (drobovík) m. Slovene: šibrovka (sl) f., šibrenica f. Spanish: escopeta (es) f. Swedish: hagelgevär (sv) n. Ukrainian: рушниця (uk) (rušnýcja) f.

Front seat

Bulgarian: предна седалка f. в кола (до шофьора) Finnish: pelkääjän paikka (jocular), matkustajan etupenkki

German: Beifahrersitz (de) m. Icelandic: framhlaðningur (is) m., framsæti (is) n. (often with (definite) article)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Bulgarian: едноетажна къща f. с преходни помещения, подредени в редица (3) Galician: escopeta f. Hebrew: רובה ציד f. Maori: pū hoata

Polish: strzelba f. Serbian: sačmara f. Thai: ปืนลูกซอง (bpeun lôok song)

Verb

shotgun (third-person singular simple present shotguns, present participle shotgunning, simple past and past participle shotgunned)

1. (slang, smoking) To inhale from a pipe or other smoking device, followed shortly by an exhalation into someone else’s mouth.
2. (transitive, informal) To verbally lay claim to (something)

   I got a day off because I shotgunned it.

3. (transitive, baseball) To hit the ball directly back at the pitcher.
4. (US, slang) To rapidly drink a beverage from a can by making a hole in the bottom of the can, placing the hole above one's mouth, and opening the top.

Adjective

shotgun (not comparable)

1. Of or relating to a shotgun.

   The ground was littered with shotgun shells.

2. Occurring as a result of the threat of force.

   a shotgun wedding

3. Utilizing numerous or highly diverse means to achieve a particular result.

Anagrams

• gunshot
• noughts